4. Dependency Theory and World Systems Theory

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about dependency and world systems theories and their explanations for different levels of development across the world, focusing in particular on: (i) Andre Gunder Frank’s model of dependency between the core and periphery and his concept of underdevelopment; (ii) Walter Rodney’s application of dependency theory to Africa in his work How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972); (iii) Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems theory, a more flexible approach to dependency which argues that countries can transition between core, semi-periphery and periphery.

Course

In this course, Professor Katie Willis (Royal Holloway, University of London) explores theories of global development. In the first lecture, we look at development as a contested concept, and at some of the ways it has been defined and measured. In the second lecture, we consider modernisation theories and their development since the Cold War. In the third lecture, we look at their relationship to neoliberalism. Next, we think about dependency and world systems approaches to explaining different levels of development across the world. In the fifth lecture, we look at sustainable development and the incorporation of environmental issues into development theory and practice. In the sixth and final lecture, we turn to post-development theory and the critique of development as a concept.

Lecturer

Professor Katie Willis is Professor of Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. She researches a broad range of issues related to migration, gender and global development. Her publications include Unaccompanied Young Migrants: Identity, Care and Justice (2019) (as co-editor), Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World (2014) (as co-author), and Theories and Practices of Development (2005).